Musical Chairs
by KhallieGurl
Summary: Nico and Pedro have kindled a serious rivalry with another singer. It turns a little more serious-and disastrous-than anyone predicted. K  for mild violence and potential connotations.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! Long time no read, eh? I meant to get up my newest Rio fic MUCH sooner than this...ah, how things fail.

Before I lead into the story, I would like to give a round of thanks! First, to Qille (again), who as usual has proven extremely useful in brainstorming and just being overall awesome. Second, to a user who signed an anonymous review "EmK". EmK, thank you SO much for that wonderful review! It made me so happy I couldn't STAND it! I'm so glad your siblings liked my stories and it makes me feel so good that you were reading them aloud to them! I had been working very halfheartedly on this story when I got your review, and you inspired me to actually finish it in a decent amount of time! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! First chapter is dedicated to you. Wish I could message you. (Hint hint: get an account.)

One more thing: There is a song in this chapter! Well, technically two, but only one of them is really detailed. Neither "Buddy Wars" nor "Tubular" had any songs in them. I'm making up for that. This story is going to be heavily musical. (Hence the title.) The song, if you wish to look it up to listen to it as you read the lyrics, (which I recommend), is called "Till the World Ends" by Britney Spears. Yes, Britney Spears. It will make sense.

Without further ado, the first chapter of "Musical Chairs!" Enjoy!

* * *

><p>He was ill. So very, very ill.<p>

Naturally, no one believed him. For whatever reason, Blu's credibility did not rank very highly among his friends. He would be more offended by this obvious lack of credulity if he did not already waste so much energy trying to deflect it.

"I'm telling you I'm sick."

"No, you're not."

"I'm telling you I'm _sick_."

"You feel fine."

"I do not."

"You just don't want to do karaoke."

Oh, yes. Blu was very, very ill. Partly because the love of his life was so blatantly betraying him.

"I can't do karaoke because I'm sick."

"Get over it, Blu, we signed up for it last week."

"_You _signed up for it last week."

"But I also put in your name."

"Which I think violates the vow you made at our wedding."

"I made no such vow."

"I clearly remember you promising to stay with me in sickness or in health—"

"Does karaoke not count as either of those things? I'm staying with you, aren't I?"

Blu stuttered. "Karaoke is an entirely different category. And if it _were, _it would be sickness, because _I'm sick._"

"It's health, honey."

"Sickness!"

"Health!"

"_**SHUT UP!"**_ Pedro yelled, much to the relief of his companions. Nico sat next to him, slumped against the wooden music box serving as their table, bottle cap completely covering his face in an effort to block out the bickering macaws from both sight and hearing. Rafael had tried a similar endeavor by covering his face with a large black wing. And Pedro just looked like he wanted to smack his head across the table and end his misery forever. "You've been doing this for _20 minutes."_

"But I'm si—"

"Blu, if you say you're sick _one more time_, I am going to make you the godfather of my children. Then when I die, you'll have to raise them," Rafael deadpanned, eyes squinted shut behind his pinching wing.

Blu gulped at this very real threat. "But I _am—_"

"Are your feathers insured, Blu?"

Blu slumped in his chair. Defeat ran across his anxious face. "I don't want to sing."

"It'll be good for you. Might even cure your sickness." Jewel smirked as Blu shot her a glare packed with malice. He opened his mouth with one last remark before they heard someone yell, "Blu! Jewel! You're up!"

His remark died mid-air as Jewel smiled, grabbed her partner's wing, and guided him through the crowded Branch towards the main stage.

The Branch was busier than ever that night. Just a few weeks ago, the club had been ransacked by monkeys in what was sure to go down in history as the fiercest battle ever to be fought between the avian and simian races. Although the former had won, (thanks to a skateboard, a water gun, and an inconceivable amount of luck on Nico and Pedro's side), the club had been nearly decimated. Broken equipment, overturned carts, torn drapes, and bruised fruit littered the alley. Although some had suggested moving the location of The Branch so as to avoid another attack, this suggestion had been refuted because of The Branch's already ideal situation. The club was almost in the middle of the city, making it a fairly equal distance for all commuting birds, the humans never noticed it because of the artful camouflage, and the club was already comfortably established. No one felt like moving it, and, in truth, they were a little too lazy to do anything but clean the place up.

Besides, as Nico and Pedro had pointed out, The Branch's current unmoved location would be the _last _place the monkeys looked if they really felt like hunting it down again. Much to Nico and Pedro's chagrin, no one realized the wisdom of this statement until a few days after it was suggested.

Then clean-up began. Clearing away the refuse strewn about the alley and repairing the hanging drapes turned out to be easier than anyone thought, and Nico and Pedro somehow managed to secure brand new equipment. No one was quite sure how, and the two birds hadn't volunteered any information. Everyone dropped the issue in the face of some new strobe lights, a turntable, a speaker system, and, to their delight, a karaoke machine.

Tonight was the night they broke it out. The grand re-opening of The Branch called for something special, and now birds who didn't normally perform could go up and sing their little hearts out. Rafael, who usually abstained from singing even though he was the King of Samba, had gone up for the first try.

Now Blu and Jewel took the stage and hoisted up the microphones that were the same size as them. Well, Jewel took the stage and the microphone; Blu didn't so much take anything as have it thrown at him against his will.

He glared at Jewel again as he righted his microphone, weakly coughing as if this would truly convince her he was unable to do anything remotely close to karaoke. Jewel completely ignored him as she scrolled through the list of songs on the screen. Her face lit up as she found one.

"Okay, Blu, your lyrics are in yellow."

A familiar diddy started up and the crowd cheered. Pedro smirked. "They would choose this song."

"What's wrong with this song?" Nico asked, already bobbing his head and foot (the latter against the overturned cup he was sitting on because his feet couldn't reach the floor) to the all-too familiar beat.

Rafael was laughing in agreement. "I'm going to get up closer," he said excitedly, pushing his way through the same path Blu and Jewel had followed.

Blu, who looked both relieved and extra anxious about the song choice, missed his starting cue and frantically tried to make up for it. "_Sumin….had me blast…"_

Jewel, trying desperately to keep from laughing, chimed in right on time: "_Summer lovin', happened so faaaaaast!" _

"_I met a girl, crazy for me?_"

"_Met a boy, cute as can be!"_

Jewel sauntered over to Blu, who looked much less nervous with her right next to him, to sing the simultaneous line: _"Summer days, duh-riftin' away to uh, oh, those sum-mer nights!"_

The crowd ecstatically helped them out with the next part: "_A WELL-A WELL-A WELL-A HUH!_"

"_TELL ME MORE! TELL ME MORE! DIDJA GET VERY FAR?" _Nico and Pedro screamed at the top of their lungs, now standing on their table.

Numerous female voices followed up with, "_TELL ME MORE! TELL ME MORE! LIKE DID HE HAVE A CAR?"_

One clear voice behind them prevented Nico and Pedro from joining the chorus of "Uh-huh"'s ringing out through the club. They turned to see a bright pink finch standing smugly behind their table. She was too short to fully see over the music box, but standing atop the wood, Nico and Pedro had no problem viewing her bratty expression.

They slunk down onto the overturned cups that served as stools. "What do you want, Calysta?" Nico asked.

"Nothin'. Just joining in the fun."

"You mean you were excluded before? Imagine that…"

She rolled her eyes and clambered onto Blu's abandoned seat, next to Pedro. "You know, at first I thought the karaoke machine was kind of stupid."

Nico raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

"Because then _everyone _gets to sing."

"Your point?"

"Well don't most of us sing or dance or something anyway?"

"You could just say thank you for bringing in a new toy," Pedro muttered.

"We already had enough performers in the club," she responded snarkily. "We don't need any more."

"Aw, are you afraid of a little competition?" Nico smirked.

"Afraid of that?" Calysta said, gesturing towards the stage.

Jewel was handling herself well. "_We went strollin', drank lemonaaaaaaade!"_

Blu was not. "_We made out…_what? Oh…_under the dock?_"

"_We stayed out, 'til ten o'cloooock!"_

Although Blu was looking warily at Jewel as if he'd offended her, she simply laughed and carried the next line on her own.

"_Summer fling, don't mean a thing, but oh, oh, those sum-mer nights!"_

Calysta turned back to Nico and Pedro with a sarcastic smile. "Your friend looks pretty hapless up there."

"He's always hapless," Pedro said.

"And yet look how much more popular he still is than you," Nico fired. Actually, the crowd really did love Blu; everyone knew him (it's hard _not _to know one of the only two Blue Macaws in Rio), and they seemed to be good-naturedly enjoying his karaoke performance.

Calysta frowned. "Yeah? Then by extension, they love me more than you."

"What?"

"It's an insult. You said the crowd loves Blu more, the crowd likes me better than you, ergo, you are worse than Blu."

"Wha?" Pedro laughed. "That insult didn't even make sense!"

Calysta glared knives at the cardinal, who took no notice and continued laughing. "You think you're so cool, don't you?"

"I _know _we're cool," Pedro choked through his laughter. "We don't need you admitting it."

"Don't twist your feathers in a bunch just because your songs are never as good as ours," Nico said coolly, lounging against the back wall.

"Who says?"

"Popular consensus."

"Yeah? I've got a new song to debut tonight when the karaoke's done."

"Yeah? So do we."

"Well then. We'll just see who's better. I'm up right after your friends."

"_Summer dreams, ripped aaaat the seams…but, oh, oh…those sum-mer…niiiiiiiiiiiights!"_

Everyone joined in the club's final chorus except Calysta, Nico, and Pedro, who had invented some sort of three-way staring contest. Mostly it involved Nico and Calysta exchanging icy glares as Pedro poked his little head up behind Nico's shoulder, trying desperately to make Calysta waver. She did not.

The song ended and the stage crew began to remove the karaoke machine as Miguel announced that karaoke hour was up, but to sign up for the time slot next week and stick around for some new songs being debuted by regular club performers.

"Hey, babe!" A red macaw skated in and draped a wing around Calysta's shoulders. "You're up next, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Bruno." Calysta harrumphed at Nico and Pedro and departed to prepare for her song, Bruno the red macaw following.

Blu and Jewel returned, Jewel looking exhilarated and Blu with an expression that would make anyone think he had just escaped certain death.

"Wasn't that fun?" Jewel prodded, reclaiming her seat.

"Not at all."

"Aw, you had fun."

"Maybe a little."

"Aw, you had more than a little fun."

"Maybe a lot."

"You guys were tight!" Pedro said, offering his hand for a fist bump. Both Macaws acquiesced. Blu looked a little better after the celebratory hand motion.

Rafael swooped in for his seat. "Good work, guys," he told Blu and Jewel before turning to Nico and Pedro. "Was that Calysta over here?"

"Yeah."

"Who's Calysta?" Jewel asked.

Pedro answered her question with a frown. "You don't want to know."

"I don't?"

"She's another performer," Nico all but growled. "If you can call her that."

Blu turned to Rafael. "Can we?"

"Yes."

"Well, she's _all right,_" Nico admitted. "I mean, her songs are usually _decent_."

Rafael smirked. "You like that duo she does with Bruno."

"Bruno?" Jewel raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Her boyfriend."

"He's worse than she is," Pedro muttered. "He's so sappy!"

"Do they perform together, or solo?"

"Both. He's sappy either way. She's just annoying either way." Pedro turned an accusing glare on Nico. "He likes this one song they perform together."

"Just the one! And so do you!"

"…okay. I do."

"What makes her so bad then?" Blu asked.

"Aw, she's been jealous of us since we started performing. She was the headliner before us, and then we came along, and she's just never gotten over it," Nico explained.

Rafael nodded. "She's kind of a brat. I use this word only because I don't want to say the alternative in front of Blu."

Blu shot Rafael a look of annoyance and opened his mouth, but Nico and Pedro shushed him. "She's going up! We want to see how bad her song is! We're right after her!"

"You are?" Jewel asked. "What are you singing?"

"It's a new one."

"You've been writing a new one?"

"Yep."

"How come we never knew about it?"

"They've got this secret rehearsal schedule," Rafael explained, rolling his eyes. "They don't like debuting their songs until the actual performance."

Nico and Pedro hushed the table again and everyone looked towards the stage, which had been darkened. Calysta's appeal instantly revealed itself—even in the relative darkness, her silhouette made all male birds close to the stage clamor for an even closer spot. Somehow, her small sultry smile was visible even without any lights.

The music started, a throbbing, catchy techno beat permeated by steady clapping. Calysta swayed her hips seductively. Nico and Pedro raised their eyebrows.

_This kit-ten got yo' tongue tied in knots, you seeeee._

_Spit—it—out, 'cuz I'm dyin' for comp-any._

The music picked up, and Nico and Pedro frowned, brows knitted in confusion and maybe even skepticism. They cocked their heads as if the slight angle would help them hear the song better.

_I notice that you got it,_

_You notice that I want it,_

_You know that I can take it,_

_To the next level, ba-by,_

_If you want this good catch,_

_Sicker than the remix, _

_Ba-by, let me blow—your—mind—tonight!_

Nico and Pedro's frowns deepened when Calysta reached the chorus.

_I can't take it, take it, take NO moooooore!_

_Never felt like, felt like this BE-fore…._

_C'mon, get me, get me, on THE flooooooor!_

_DJ, what you, what you, wai-TIN fooooor?_

Pedro fell off his stool and Nico actually dropped his bottle cap as he loudly exclaimed, "WHAT?" The frowns had disappeared in favor of bewilderment and confusion. Nico and Pedro looked at each other as Calysta continued singing.

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH oooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH oooooh!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH ooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH hoooo!_

Blu, Jewel, Rafael, and every other bird in the club swayed along with Calysta to the catchy beat. Nico and Pedro, however, looked angry, almost aghast. Nico shoved his stool closer to Pedro to begin whispering fervently in his ear.

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH oooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH oooooh!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH ooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH hoooo!_

"I KNOW!" Pedro whispered loudly back to Nico. Jewel, Blu, and Rafael noticed their friends' disturbance for the first time. Nico and Pedro stopped whispering when Calysta started the next verse.

_Watch me move when I lose, when I lose it haaaaard._

_Get you off with the touch dancin' in the dark._

Calysta crooked an inviting finger towards some of the boys in the front row. This only seemed to fuel the intense emotions Nico and Pedro were apparently experiencing.

_You notice what I'm wearin',_

_I'm noticin' you're starin',_

_You know that I can TAKE it,_

_To the next level, ba-by,_

_Hotter than the A-List, _

_Next one on my hit list,_

_Ba-by, let me blow—your—mind—tonight!_

The music escalated into the chorus. Pedro shook Nico by the shoulders. Nico responded by knocking Pedro's hands off and leaning desperately into his friends' ear to begin another round of frenzied whispering.

_I can't take it, take it, take NO moooooore!_

_Never felt like, felt like this BE-fore…._

_C'mon, get me, get me, on THE flooooooor!_

_DJ, what you, what you wai-TIN fooooor?_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH oooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH oooooh!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH ooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH hoooo!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH oooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH oooooh!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH ooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH hoooo!_

Their friends at the table could hardly _not_ notice the furious whispering between Nico and Pedro by now. Their hushed, fast, and garbled words were now accompanied by hand gestures. Nico was moving so much and so furiously that he almost fell off his stool.

_See the sunlight!_

_We ain't stoppin'!_

_Keep on daaaaancin' tiiiilll the world ends,_

_If you feel it, _

_Let it happen,_

_Keep on daaancin' till the world ends!_

_Keep on daaaancin' till the world ends!_

_World ends…._

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_Keep on daaaaancin' till the world ends!_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

"Um…" Rafael poked Nico, who turned around and looked bewildered, as if he'd forgotten other people were there. He more or less ignored Rafael and turned right back to Pedro. Rafael shot Blu and Jewel a puzzled look.

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH oooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH oooooh!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH ooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH hoooo!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH oooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH oooooh!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH ooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH hoooo!_

_See the sunlight!_

_We ain't stoppin'!_

_Keep on daaaaancin' tiiiilll the world ends,_

_If you feel it, _

_Let it happen,_

_Keep on daaancin' till the world ends!_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

The song trickled out and dissolved into a cheering round of applause.

"I thought that song was good," Blu remarked. "One I actually liked."

"Yeah, what's Nico and Pedro's problem?" Jewel asked.

Rafael turned to ask, but Nico and Pedro's chairs were empty. They were gone.

* * *

><p>Hope you enjoyed! The more reviews I get...the faster I update. ;)<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

This is probably the quickest I have ever updated! Thanks to all you reviewers: your wonderful reviews are probably what kicked me into actually updating in a decent amount of time. Well, no, your reviews are _definitely_ what kicked me into actually updating in a decent amount of time.

Congratulations to CJFang and Qille, who did correctly guess the origins of Bruno's name! More is to come in THAT vein, but I'm really happy people got my reference!

A warning to ye readers: I attempted to write a song in this chapter. Yes, congrats to I Be Guest and Dinosgorawr3 for guessing correctly as to Nico and Pedro's strange behavior in the previous chapter, and the "original" version of the song I have decided to put in the story. Originally, I wasn't, but then I thought that maybe the situation would be a little clearer and maybe a little more powerful if I did. (Credit for this goes to Dinosgorawr3, who put the idea into me head.) My warning consists of this: I am not a songwriter. Some of the lyrics may be stupid. I tried my best. Really, I did. Just imagine the words to the tune of "Till the World Ends" and hopefully you'll be fine.

Also, I guess I should kind of warn you, this chapter originally was a little longer, but I decided to split it up. So there's not MUCH in this chapter, but...it's still important.

I'm done.

* * *

><p>"You have some explaining to do." Though Pedro did not shout, the command lacked no amount of force as he bored his angry eyes into Calysta.<p>

She raised an eyebrow, letting the curtain that hid backstage from front stage fall back into place. "About what?"

"You know very well what." Nico, despite his size, didn't look any less threatening than his friend.

"Did you like the song?"

Red and yellow feathers bristled. A parrot, belonging to the backstage tech crew, ambled past and noticed the stand-off. "You guys okay?"

"We're fine," Nico said. "Just talking for a minute." The parrot shrugged and walked away. Nico's eyes never left Calysta's. "Explain."

"I don't have to explain anything to you," Calysta said defensively. She tried to leave, but Pedro easily blocked her path.

"You ripped off our song." The statement was deadpan, concrete.

So was the response. "No."

"_Don't lie."_

"The verses were completely original."

Nico guffawed. "But not the _chorus! _Or even the melody, for that matter!"

"Like I said—completely original."

"You changed the lyrics to the verses! _This kitten got your tongue tied in knots, you see? _What kind of bird compares herself to a _cat_?"

Calysta's black eyes glimmered. "It was better than _Let's open up the night, we've got the key."_

Nico met her stare dead-on. "_No reservations needed for company." _

"Stupid lyrics."

Pedro shot his arm out to prevent the canary lyricist from blindsiding Calysta.

"And what a dull beat. Half the chorus is _Wo-ah uh oh._"

This time Nico stuck his foot in front of Pedro to prevent him from bowling the pink bird over. "_Then why did you steal it_?" Pedro all but snarled.

"You can't prove anything."

"Did your brainpower finally run out? Or did Bruno not want to write your lyrics for you?"

"It's not _my _fault Bruno and I can't write a song good enough to follow up our first duet."

"_Yes it is!" _Pedro accused.

"_Write your own songs!" _Nico added furiously.

"Yours was better."

Feathers bristled again. "We're telling Miguel."

"Oh yeah? Musical plagiarism is a serious offense. Do you have any proof?"

"The fact that it was better than most of your songs is proof enough!" Nico all but screamed. Other birds occupying themselves backstage looked up at the shout, although they all had puzzled expressions, as if they hadn't quite heard correctly. Nico lowered his voice to a loud but intense whisper. "Miguel would believe us."

"Who says? You guys are favorites, sure, but Miguel is very partial to me because of the song I wrote with Bruno."

"Funny how you can write so well together, but alone, you're worse than Jemaine Clement."

"It doesn't matter. This song has re-launched my solo career. It's been neglected because of all the time I've spent with Bruno lately."

"_It's not your song!" _

"Prove that to Miguel! He might be friends with you too, but you've got no proof. Besides, if you do…" Calysta trailed off, her latent threat manifesting itself into a smirk. She opened her mouth again to continue, but Miguel suddenly appeared at her side.

"There you are! Calysta, that was great!" The pelican clasped her hand and shook it warmly as she beamed. "Upbeat, catchy, easy to dance to. You're going to sing it again, right?"

"Of course."

Miguel turned to Nico and Pedro. "There you are, your friends said you disap—" He only saw empty air.

"—peared." Quizzically, he turned back to Calysta. "Again? Where'd they go?"

Calysta shrugged. "Search me. Need a performer?"

* * *

><p>"<em>SHE RIPPED OFF OUR SONG!" <em>Pedro's diaphragm practically vibrated with the strength of his shout. His angry words bounced off the stone walls of the church, reverberating through the tiny space like invisible hornets with armed stingers.

Nico, brow furrowed and bottle cap pushed far back on his head, paced the small alcove. There wasn't much space for his little feet to go—he went from one stone wall to another, then to the window ledge where Pedro stood, then to the final side of the room, which was dominated by a stained-glass mural of an old guy on a boat. He leaned against it, peering through the distorted colors and shapes at the room below.

He liked to look through the bright, swirling colors—the pure blue of the water, the warm brown of the wooden boat, the bright yellow of the sun. From the other side, in the actual church, the stained glass was situated high up near the ceiling, ringing the top of the wall with other glass companions who all illustrated different stories. Since the architect apparently didn't think a stained glass window could effectively protect the congregation from nasty weather, there was a small alcove behind each decorative window featuring a useful one that actually opened and closed and would offer some protection against the rain. All the protective windows had been put at an angle to the ones made of stained glass, and so they were usually open to allow sunlight to stream through the small alcove and the stained glass window, making the mural sparkle.

Luckily, the windows were so high that people almost never bothered to close them unless they were sure of bad weather approaching. Even if they _were _closed and locked, whoever was in charge obviously thought the height of the windows would deter anyone unsavory from even trying for them, and so anyone could easily pick the mediocre lock. Even a young cardinal and canary desperately searching for some sort of shelter against an oncoming storm.

After discovering the small space and tightly closing the window, the two young birds had sat in the chilly alcove staring at the stained glass as the wind moaned outside. They thought the colors were dull, but the picture fantastic. Animals crowded every spare space on the boat in the picture, and they played a competitive version of "I spy" in which they each tried to spot a cardinal and a canary first, respectively. All they could find was a dove, and they soon gave that game up in favor of "hum that tune."

Pedro guessed all of Nico's, and Nico guessed all of Pedro's. They were both _very _good at that game. But then, upon realizing that the acoustics of the stone walls were magnificent even for humming, they tried actually opening their mouths and singing.

Music had never sounded so good as when the words and the melody echoed together, trapped in the alcove between the stone and the stained glass. Each lingering note gave the birds pause to consider it, whether it should be included in the song, whether it would be better flat or sharp, whether it was awesome and they should just keep it. A long time had passed before they realized the storm must be over, and they finally opened the window to a fresh beam of sunshine.

With the window open, the colors in the stained glass were no longer dull and muted. They sparkled with vivacity, and their brightness filled the room. From the second the sunshine illuminated the hidden beauty of the space, Nico and Pedro both knew they would be returning.

Almost all of their songs were written here where they could rehearse in secret, including _I Wanna Party, More, _and even _Fly Love. _Obviously, they had to be able to use their equipment, and so about half of their rehearsing was done in The Branch during after hours. But they always came here to start songs from scratch, to write the words, and to cement the beat.

But now, in all probability, that was ruined. "How did she hear us?" Nico asked, head still leaning against the stained glass. "No one knows about this place."

Pedro didn't seem to think that this mattered. "Well somehow she did, and she _ripped off our song!"_

"I know!" Nico turned around and began pacing again. "But…how does she know so much?" He abruptly stopped pacing and ran between the walls, inspecting the stone closely as if expecting to find a tiny camera hidden between the cracks. He found nothing.

Pedro continued to glower from his sill. "I'm going to _kill her_."

"And what was that she was going to say before Miguel showed up? It sounded like a threat."

"Nowhere _near _the threat I'm giving her."

"But what could she possibly threaten us with? She's already stolen our song! And who knows how many other songs she's going to steal!"

"What?"

"If we don't know how she knew about _Till the World Ends_, what's to stop her from doing whatever she was doing before again?"

"Huh?"

"She's going to steal more of our stuff if we don't find out how she's doing it!"

Realization dawned on Pedro's face. "Oh…"

"Yeah! And _Till the World Ends _was a great song!" Nico plopped to the floor and slumped against the mural. "_O-pen up the night, we've got the key…no reservations needed for comp-any…" _

Pedro, arms crossed and still glowering, chimed in with the next lyric. "_We're hopin' that you're ready, C'mon, let's keep it steady, You know we're gonna take it, to the next level, ladies—" _

"_If you want to keep up, Better put your hands up, 'Cuz it's gonna—be—a—wild—ride!"_

Fully invested now, Nico and Pedro stood up and belted simultaneously:

_ I can't take it, take it, take NO moooore!_

_ Never felt like, felt like this BE-fore…_

_ C'mon, get me, get me, on THE flooooor!_

_ DJ, what you, what you, wai-TIN fooooor?_

Instead of Calysta's suggestive motions for the chorus, Pedro had literally taken the floor doing what he did best.

_ Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH oooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH oooooh!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH ooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH hoooo!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH oooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH oooooh!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH ooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH hoooo!_

Nico, now smiling, hopped onto the window sill and began the original verse:

_Let's move out, it's time, time to let it gooooo._

_We're dancin' and smilin', and it ain't just for shoooow. _

_We're hopin' that you're ready,_

_C'mon, let's keep it steady,_

_You know we're gonna take it,_

_To the next level, ladies,_

_If you want to keep up, _

_Better put your hands up,_

'_Cuz it's gonna—be—a—wild—ride! _

Pedro's unhappy expression had also disappeared by the time the next chorus hit:

_I can't take it, take it, take NO moooooore!_

_Never felt like, felt like this BE-fore…._

_C'mon, get me, get me, on THE flooooooor!_

_DJ, what you, what you wai-TIN fooooor?_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH oooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH oooooh!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH ooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH hoooo!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH oooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH oooooh!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH ooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH hoooo!_

Nico slid on the windowsill and gestured outside.

_See the sunlight!_

_We ain't stoppin'!_

_Keep on daaaaancin' till the world ends,_

_If you feel it,_

_Let it happen,_

_Keep on daaaaancin' till the world ends!_

During the lag, Nico and Pedro high-fived for no good reason.

_Keep on daaaaancin' till the world ends!_

_World ends…._

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_Keep on daaaaancin' till the world ends!_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

They dropped to their knees as the chorus got quieter, just as they'd planned to do in the actual performance:

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH oooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH oooooh!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH ooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH hoooo!_

They popped up energetically with the increase in volume.

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH oooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH oooooh!_

_Wo-oah uh uh uh uh uh UH ooooooh!_

_Wo-oah oh oh oh oh oh OH hoooo!_

_See the sunlight!_

_We ain't stoppin'!_

_Keep on daaaaancin' tiiiilll the world ends,_

_If you feel it, _

_Let it happen,_

_Keep on daaancin' till the world ends!_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

_World ends…_

The song trickled out, but instead of applause, it lapsed into laughter and the labored breathing that only comes after strenuous exercise. But the individual appreciation was enough for Nico and Pedro.

Almost.

Pedro's eyes narrowed as he caught his breath. "We're gonna show Calysta _never _to mess with us."

* * *

><p>Well, there you have it, Calysta's a, um...brat. If only I had Jamie Foxx and Will. on hand to record my "original" version of 'Till the World Ends', but I don't, so just use your imagination, match it with the tune, and pretend it's not horrible. I decided to take a risk writing song lyrics for the benefit of the story, and I'm just hoping it didn't backfire and ruin any credibility my Nico and Pedro may have had.<p>

Anyone who gets my Jemaine Clement reference, YOU ARE AWESOME. And you will get special recognition in my next Author's Note! (I wish I could give you something cooler, but I can't. Maybe I'll name a character after you or something. Depends on how many people get it.)

And hey! I finally revealed Nico and Pedro's secret rehearsal space! (Which has been alluded to, though not very well, in Ambitions.)

Thank you everyone! Reviews really help me write things faster!

Khallie


	3. Chapter 3

Yes. This chapter update did take forever. You are observant. Unfortunately, the longer wait is coupled with a longer Author's Note this time (yes, you have to read it), so here goes:

I made a reference to a wonderful man named Jemaine Clement in the last chapter! I promised recognition to anyone who picked up on it. And so, in no particular order (except for alphabetical), congratulations to: Blu in disguise, Dinosgorawr3, I Be Guest, Nanaki, and Qille! HOWEVER, YOU ONLY GOT HALF THE REFERENCE! (Well, Qille got like 75%.)

Yes, Jemaine Clement did voice Nigel, and he did sing what we all know deep in our hearts is a terrible, terrible song. But BEFORE Jemaine Clement sang as our favorite cockatoo, he sang as a member of a band called "Flight of the Conchords" made up for a TV show of the same name. The band was TERRIBLE. It was supposed to be. The gag was that the songs were just the worst. And so, in conclusion, Jemaine Clement (and his partner in the show, Bret McKenzie) make a living by writing bad songs on purpose, which I think is a pretty astounding talent. (Side note: they can also be good. Bret McKenzie wrote the songs for the most recent Muppets movie.) But seriously, Flight of the Conchords. Awesome.

Onto music of my own! (Or rather, music I'm using as my own.) This chapter has yet ANOTHER song! I've inadvertently made this a full-fledged musical. This mini-act of the musical was made possible by Glampyra, who used "You Make Me Feel" by Cobra Starship in her story, "Stickin' Around." Since she used the song first, I asked her permission to use it, and she granted my request. Thanks again, Glampyra! Also, I suppose I should do a little "I do not own this song" disclaimer.

Yes. "You Make Me Feel" by Cobra Starship. Go pull it up. That song is largely responsible for this chapter's negative effect on my mental health. I just have to publish it now and be done with it.

Also: special thanks to Emmerzk for messaging me recently, and in that process inadvertently reminding me that I had a story to work on. Those of you who wished to see Nico and Pedro really teach Calysta a lesson, like Emmerzk, enjoy.

* * *

><p>"Are you <em>sure<em> this is legal?" Nico asked. "I mean, really sure? I know you _said _you were sure, but the more I think about it, the more I realize how little I trust you."

Pedro scoffed. "Have I ever led you wrong before?"

"Well, you told Blu to get me a raspberry smoothie the other night."

"So?"

"I'm allergic to raspberries."

"Oh, that's right…"

Pedro started to move, but Nico blocked him by stepping in front of the back entrance to The Branch. "Let's think about this. I mean, she is a girl."

"So? What's to think about? We've got a solid plan!"

"But how are we going to explain the paper bag?" Nico gestured furiously to the paper bag in question, one of the teensy tiny ones used for cookies that they had stolen from a nearby coffee shop. "We can't just waltz in with that! It's weird!"

Pedro stared at it for a second. "We say we were hungry and we stole a cookie."

"Why do we still have the bag?"

"…we like the way it smells."

"No."

"We were fond of it."

"No."

"We want to use it to make a fort."

Nico paused. "Change it to special effects and it might work."

Pedro flashed the gun finger at Nico. "Nice."

Nico smirked and motioned for Pedro to lean into a conspiring huddle. "OK, so after that, we just wait around the corner and then…"

"NICO! PEDRO!"

Both birds jumped back and yelped loudly as Miguel practically leaped out of the shadows surrounding the back entrance. His exultation momentarily disappeared when he saw their flustered faces. "What are you guys doing back here?"

Nico, clutching his chest, wheezed, "_Dios, _don't _do_ that!"

"What? Did I scare you?"

"Of course not!" Pedro said. He abruptly let go of Nico's wing.

The pelican smirked, which quickly turned into a puzzled frown. "Is that a paper bag?"

"No."

"He means yes," Nico corrected.

"What do you have that for?"

"We got a cookie," Pedro explained as if he had just answered that two and two amounted to four.

"Okay, but why do you still have the bag?"

"We liked the way it smelled."

"What?"

"I MEAN WE WANT TO BUILD A FORT."

"What does it smell like?"

"Chocolate. We want to make it a fort."

"And special effects," Nico added.

"And special effects."

Miguel shrugged. "All right. Whatever. Listen, though, don't do anything too weird tonight, okay?"

Nico raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Why do you look so nervous?"

"You're performing tonight, right?"

Nico and Pedro exchanged a glance. "…yes?"

"Make that a statement."

"Yes."

Miguel almost fainted. "Oh, great! If you guys perform 'More' after Bruno and Calysta do their song this'll work out, I've got a favor to ask you guys, it's really kind of important—"

The sound of shattering glass and an equally shattering scream suddenly erupted from the halfway open entrance.

"_BRUNO! YOU IDIOT!"_

"_I'M SORRY!"_

Miguel, after regaining his balance, looked apologetically at Nico and Pedro and then ran back in.

_ "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?"_

_ "YOU WERE UPSETTING ME!"_

_ "WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS UPSET?"_

Nico and Pedro exchanged another momentary glance. Completely in sync, they grabbed the paper bag and ran in a second after Miguel.

They ran in just in time to see the pelican covering his face with his wing in an obvious expression of anguish as Calysta stomped furiously around a broken glass and a sheepish Bruno.

"That was the only thing I had to use as a mirror!"

"I'll get you a new one!"

"_In 20 seconds?"_

"Well, no, but—"

Calysta practically screamed as she stalked away. Miguel opened his mouth to stop her, but an unfamiliar voice rang out from the front of the club: "Miguel! What's going on?"

Miguel looked completely torn between his enraged singer and the unseen guest. After twitching a little bit in indecision, he dashed to the front.

Calysta half-turned. Nico shoved Pedro to the side behind a box of multi-colored lightbulbs before she could see them. Pedro quickly scrunched the paper bag to stop it from making noise.

"Why did you try to move the glass? It's twice the size you are," they heard Calysta accuse more than question.

Bruno stuttered apologetically. "It was in the way! I wanted to get to the CD case underneath it. I wanted to replace the one I'm currently using as a door."

"Well, great, look where _that _got us."

"Oh, you're just mad because I ate the last poppyseed muffin—"

"That was stupid of you too!"

"YOU DON'T EVEN LIKE POPPYSEED!"

"You still weren't supposed to eat it!"

"YOU DON'T MAKE SENSE."

Calysta unleashed a frustrated scream.

"WAIT!" Bruno shouted. "Are you really mad? Don't go! IF YOU EVER LEAVE ME, BABY, LEAVE SOME MORPHINE AT MY DOOR!"

"THAT'S YOUR WORST LYRIC!"

Nico had to bury his face in Pedro's feathers to stop from snickering as Pedro clamped both hands over his mouth in a similar effort. They almost dropped the paper bag, which began to rustle; but Pedro managed to grab it before too much crinkling occurred. The close call reminded them of their situation, as did the approaching angry footsteps.

"_It's her!" _Pedro whispered. Nico frantically mimed to shut up as he hopped onto Pedro's shoulders, his excellent balance keeping him perched atop the cardinal as the latter handed him the paper bag. Nico grasped the top of the opening while Pedro pinched the bottom half from down below, effectively widening the mouth of the bag. Pedro adopted a wider stance to steady himself as the footsteps drew nearer.

"NOW!"

Nico toppled off of his friend's shoulders at the shout, bringing the bag down with him. It fell over the passing bird in mid-fall—or, rather, would have, if Nico's right hand had not slid across the perforated edge at the last second. He winced and instinctively withdrew at the sting of a paper cut, shooting his right hand out inadvertently. Attempting to balance himself, Nico completely let go of the bag and slapped the air with his left wing as his right flew behind him. It slammed against the box of lightbulbs.

The lightbulbs tipped at much the same time as Pedro did. The bag had still clumsily landed atop the passing bird, and Pedro had fulfilled his part of the plan: the cardinal hit the bird's legs like a baseball slamming into a glove. However, the steady rain of lightbulbs had not been a considered factor: they banged and smashed and clattered around the falling birds, who were now engaged in a sort of weird survival scuffle. The one in the middle, covered by a paper bag, was mostly just scrabbling around in confusion. Until the metal base of a pink lightbulb collided with its head.

It stopped scrabbling after that.

The rain of lightbulbs ceased. Nico, sucking on his injured hand, fished around frantically for his bottle cap. A few seconds later, he plopped it on his head one-handed and grinned.

Pedro glared. "Are you pleased with yourself?"

"Very."

"Look what you did! That was supposed to go super-smooth!"

"Oh, because blindsiding Calysta, kidnapping her, and forcing her to reveal her secrets was such a good plan in the first place."

"_It was!"_

"I still think it's illegal!"

"It worked, didn't it?" Pedro gestured proudly to the limp paper bag lying before them, lifted the corner with a smirk, and glanced inside. The smirk disappeared.

"Ooooooooooh no…"

He grabbed a leg and pulled the unconscious bird out. It was Bruno.

Nico's pupils shrank to half their original size. "_What?"_

A perfectly conscious Calysta suddenly skidded around the corner. "What…?"

Miguel followed not far behind. "WHAT?"

"What?" Nico exclaimed.

"You said what already," Pedro commented drily.

"Oh."

"What happened?" Miguel sputtered.

"He…tripped. Into the box of lightbulbs. And then they fell. WE SAW NOTHING."

"_Dios!_" Calysta knelt down next to Bruno and poked him in the temple. "What do we do?"

"He'll be fine, he'll be fine, he'll just be out for a few hours. It's not the first time someone's done that," Miguel said, glancing at Pedro. The cardinal suddenly found the view to his left very interesting. Then Miguel groaned. "Oh, noooooooo, what am I going to do about Manny?"

"Who's Manny?" Nico asked.

"He runs The Coconut Tree on the south side."

"The club with real coconuts?"

Miguel visibly drooped. "Yes. The club with real coconuts."

"Why is he here?"

"Because he's the competition! He wants to check out The Branch!"

"For _what_?"

Miguel answered with a stare.

"_You don't mean_—"

"I do mean. This is serious, guys, I need my headliners to impress him. EXCEPT ONE OF THEM IS UNCONSCIOUS."

"We were supposed to do our song!" Calysta burst half-concerned, half-pouting.

"I know!" Miguel said, rubbing his temples with a wing. "And Manny's waiting, I had to tell him the glass breaking was new equipment settling in so he doesn't think The Branch is anything less than a well-oiled machine…"

"Pedro and I can still do a few songs," Nico offered, glaring at Calysta.

"I don't want him to think I rely solely on you two! He's not the only one out there!"

"What?" Pedro asked.

Miguel nodded. "It's apparently let's-see-if-The-Branch-is-cracking-night for, like, every other club owner in Rio. I mean, I guess it makes sense, we were at the top of the charts…"

Nico and Pedro paled.

"Key word being _were, _because they picked a night that it _is totally cracking." _Miguel made an obvious effort to pull himself together and put a wing on Calysta's tiny shoulder. "Manny is impressed from hearing about the reception of your newest song last night." Ignoring Calysta's smug smirk and Nico and Pedro's sudden stony expressions, he continued. "He _really _wants to hear this duet. He asked for it by name."

"But I can't—"

Miguel put a wing up and Calysta stammered off. He turned to Nico. "Nico, you're going to have to sing 'You Make Me Feel' with her."

"_**WHAT?**__" _The word had been screamed by both Nico and Calysta.

"You know the words!"

"Well, I mean, no, not really, no—"

"You _do_ know them, you were singing them under your breath last week! I heard you!"

"_You want me to sing with her?"_

"YES!"

"NO!"

"Why not?"

"Be—because! It's their relationship song! I—it's weird!"

"You're going to sing it with her, Nico! I need you to!"

"NO!"

Miguel crossed his arms. "Do you want me to tell people that I caught a certain two birds singing 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' while they thought they were alone backstage last week?"

Pedro turned gloomily to Nico. "Sing it."

Nico's eyes narrowed. "That's blackmail."

"Yes. Yes it is. But also, this is super important to The Branch."

"Fine. I'll sing _You Make Me Feel._"

* * *

><p>Pedro stalked out to the club, immediately spotted Rafael in his token corner table, and marched over. The overturned cup that served as a stool almost flipped right-side-up from the force with which the cardinal plopped himself down.<p>

The toucan raised an eyebrow. "What's up with you? Where's Nico?"

"Miguel killed him."

"What?"

"Figuratively."

"Ah. You're using metaphors now."

"Miguel is making him perform with Calysta."

"Why does that make Nico dead?"

"That experience would destroy anyone's soul."

Rafael laughed. "Why is he singing with her in the first place? Not 'You Make Me Feel'?"

"Yep."

"_Why?_"

"Miguel needs to impress some rival club owners and Bruno…uh…hit his head."

"Not the lightbulbs?"

"Yes."

"Remember that time you—"

"No."

Rafael grinned and opened his mouth to say something else, but the lights suddenly dimmed. Pedro looked at the stage as if he were about to watch an execution, although a hint of a smile was steadily conquering his face.

"You find this kind of funny, don't you?"

"You know it."

Rafael laughed and then pointed to a table very close to the stage—in fact, the only table close to the stage, the one usually reserved for "important" birds. "Those would be the other club owners. I remember Miguel saying something about them coming. He looked really nervous about it."

"Is the King of Carnevale supposed to be doing anything to impress them? It's your club, too."

"Later, my friend, later."

Pedro turned away from the four or five birds, none of which held any interest to him, because anyone who did not acknowledge the superior awesomeness of The Branch really didn't deserve his street cred. Besides, the lights were dimming even more, and Miguel had just made his way on stage.

"Birds and Birdettes, we've got a one of a kind performance for you tonight! Bruno has—uh—fallen ill, and he's not able to perform this evening."

Girls in the front row sighed monstrously.

"However, taking his place in tonight's opening duet is Nico—"

The girls looked fairly satisfied.

"So without further ado, Nico and Calysta! You Make Me Feel!"

Polite applause (most of that from the guys) and excited squeaking (most of that from the girls) sounded from the audience a second before the opening music began.

Calysta and Nico stood on opposite sides of the stage, the former under a pink spotlight, the latter under blue. Calysta, batting her eyelashes at a section largely composed of male audience members, started off.

_La la la la la._

_La la la la la._

_La la la la la._

_La la la la la._

The music swelled, and Nico—who was making absolutely no effort to _not _look bored and disgusted under his blue spotlight—started his verse lazily:

**Girl, I been all over the world,**

**Lookin' for you.**

Miguel, from the table closest to the stage, caught Nico's eye and motioned frantically for him to smile. Then he sliced a finger across his throat. Nico instantly perked up.

**I'm known for taking what I think I deserve…**

**And you're overdue.**

At that lyric, a mischievous glint sparked in Nico's eye. He adjusted his bottle cap and began to saunter across the stage, in a noticeably better and more romantic mood than before.

**And if you listen you can hear me through the ray-dee-oh!**

**In that bright—white—noise! **

Calysta looked distrustful as Nico moved beside her, but was making an obvious effort to remain professional.

**What I been missin' in my life,**

**What I been dreamin' ooooof,**

Nico stuck his foot out—

**You'll be that girl, **

**You'll be that girl**

**You'll be…**

-and slid it under Calysta's right at the punctuated beat. She tripped and fell to the stage, glaring at Nico and angrily shouting her verse from the floor:

_E—verything you want so let me get—out—there!_

_I'm the baddest baby in the at—mos—phere! _

_Tell me what you want so we can do—just—what—you—liiiiiiike!_

Nico offered a hand, which Calysta slapped away. She stood and backed away from Nico, who playfully chased her across the stage, during the chorus.

**You make me feel the!**

_La la la la la…_

**You make me feel so!**

_La la la la la…_

**You make me feel the!**

_La la la la la…_

**You make me feel so!**

_La la la la la…_

**You make me feel the…**

Nico offered his hand and used his finger to beckon Calysta closer.

**Get a little closer to me, girl,**

**And you'll understand…**

Calysta's expression clearly communicated that she wanted anything _but _to get closer to Nico.

'**Cuz if you want a guy that knows what you need, well,**

**Then I'm your man…**

Nico, now grinning at the rather duplicitous lyrics, easily outstepped any and all efforts Calysta made to put distance between them.

**And if I listen I can hear you through my ray-dee-oh!**

**In that bright—white—noise!**

He managed to pin her against a box on the right side of the stage, leaning coyly against the wood and blocking any path she had out.

**What I been missin' in my life,**

**What I been dreamin' oooof…**

Nico grabbed Calysta's arm…

**You'll be that girl,**

**You'll be that girl,**

**You'll be…**

…and twirled her forcefully, right at the emphasized beat, as if he were trying to start a tornado. She circled across the stage, desperately trying to regain her balance and sing her lyric at the same time:

_E—verything you want so let me get—out—there!_

Miraculously, she caught her footing and, no longer playing games, marched towards Nico and sang threateningly:

_I'M THE BADDEST BABY IN THE AT—MOS—PHERE!_

_TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT SO WE CAN DO—JUST—WHAT—YOU—LIIIIIIKE!_

She pushed him, and Nico, obviously not expecting an actual physical confrontation, reeled backwards across the stage. She lunged at him during her crescendo.

_ooooooOOOOOOOOOOH…_

He caught her—she being one of the few birds in Rio who was smaller than he was—and managed to restrain her frantic squirming.

_E—verything you know I'm flipping up—side—down!_

At this point, Nico actually flipped her upside down.

_Take you 'round the world, you know I like—it—loud! _

_Tell me what you want 'cuz we can do just—what—you—liiiiiiiiiiike! _

Voice dripping with sarcasm, she kicked Nico in the face and he went reeling back as she clattered to the stage. They both popped up in the same second.

**You make me feel the!**

Nico, moving in perfect punctuation with the rhythm, moved towards Calysta, who retreated by stepping in time with her lyric.

_La-la-la-la-la!_

**You make me feel so!**

Nico retreated as Calysta moved forward.

_La-la-la-la-la!_

**You make me feel the!**

Nico advanced again, pushing Calysta back.

_La-la-la-la-la!_

**You make me feel so!**

Calysta gained back her ground, forcing Nico to retreat.

_La-la-la-la-la!_

**You make me feel the—**

_oooOOOOOH! _

Calysta, suddenly more determined than before, got close enough to Nico that she could grab him by the scruff.

_La la la la la!_

Nico, a little torn about physically beating up a girl, just blinked confusedly and pushed her off, trying to avoid her blows without actually hitting her back.

**You make me feel the—**

_La la la la la!_

**You make me feel so—**

_La la la la la!_

**You make me feel the—**

_La la la la la!_

Calysta abruptly moved with such power that Nico lost his footing trying to retreat. He tripped and his bottle cap flipped off. He went to grab it, but Calysta reached it first and ran to the other side of the stage, waving it tauntingly.

_Put your hands up, put your hands up!_

_Let the lights drop, let the lights drop!_

_Make my world stop, make my world stop!_

Nico looked like he would like nothing better than to actually make Calysta's world stop. Both birds made steely eye contact as the background music faded and Calysta sang, waving the bottle cap with the rhythm.

_La—la—la—la—la. _

Calysta then placed Nico's bottle cap on her head.

_La—la—la—la—la. _

The blind fury in Nico's eyes erupted like a volcano, and something snapped between them. They screamed the next lyric at each other:

_**YOU MAKE ME FEEL THE!**_

Obviously setting aside any prior restraints about beating up a girl, Nico lunged at Calysta.

_LA LA LA LA LA!_

Chivalry completely gone, he tackled her to the ground, and they tumbled across the stage in a flurry of pink and yellow wings. Miraculously, they managed to keep the song going in the middle of their brawl.

**YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO!**

_LA LA LA LA LA!_

**YOU MAKE ME FEEL THE!**

_LA LA LA LA LA!_

**YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO!**

_LA LA LA LA LA!_

Nico landed a sweet kick to Calysta's abdomen.

_OOOOOOOH—_

_**YOU MAKE ME FEEL THE!**_

_LA LA LA LA LA!_**  
><strong>

Calysta followed this up by jumping onto Nico's back and banging him repeatedly on the back of his head with his own bottle cap.

_**YOU MAKE ME FEEL THE!**_

_LA LA LA LA LA!_

The brawl was reaching the edge of the stage.

_**YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO!**_

_LA LA LA LA LA!_

_**YOU MAKE ME FEEL THE!**_

_LA. LA. LA. LA. LA._

At those last lyrics, Nico, under Calysta's weight and battling with slightly blurred vision, tripped off the edge of the stage, sending both birds sprawling and smacking into the table surrounded by the rival club owners. The table (an old DVD case) collapsed, sending the stools (and their occupants) flying off to the sides.

Calysta and Nico paid no notice and continued to fight, Calysta still trying to hit Nico with his own bottle cap as hard as she could.

"GIVE ME MY BOTTLE CAP!"

"NO!"

"GIVE IT NOW—"

"YOU BAS—"

A pelican wing abruptly encircled Calysta, yanking her off of Nico and interrupting her exclamation. Nico, not registering the fact (or much of anything anymore) that Calysta had been yanked off, continued to strike out in her general direction, until Rafael (who had run over faster than Speedy Gonzalez) grabbed him from behind and pulled him away.

"LEMME GO, LEMME GO, I'LL KILL ALL THREE OF HER—"

Rafael exchanged a puzzled—and slightly concerned—look with Pedro, who had just managed to wrench Nico's bottle cap from Calysta.

"**CALM DOWN!**" Miguel yelled. Naturally, everyone in The Branch was now watching. He turned to the bystanders first. "Everyone out! The Branch is closed for the rest of the night!"

No one moved.

"**NOW!"**

Everyone moved.

Miguel, still holding the tiny screaming ball of pink feathers, turned back to Rafael, who was still holding back a furiously struggling Nico. _"__**WHAT WERE YOU TWO DOING?"**_

"HE STARTED IT—" Calysta sputtered.

"DID YOU SEE HER TAKE MY BOTTLE CAP?"

"IT'S ALL HIS FAULT, MIGUEL! YOU SAW IT!"

"YEAH? WELL THAT WEIRD TURTLE WITH THE MONOCLE OVER THERE AGREES WITH ME."

Rafael and Pedro exchanged another glance at the conspicuous absence of a monocle-wearing turtle.

"**SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!"** No one there had ever seen Miguel more furious. The rival club owners, the only ones who hadn't vacated The Branch (how could they afford to miss this?), were watching with the most rapt attention.

Miguel lowered his voice just a tad at the sight of the club owners' (poor) attempt to appear like they couldn't hear a word he was saying. "Rafael, go distract them or something," he asked gruffly. Rafael handed Nico (still squirming) to Pedro, who had a more difficult time keeping him still.

Miguel continued after Rafael easily employed the club owners in conversation. "Do you know what you two _have done? _You've made yourselves, me, _and _The Branch look incompetent and stupid!"

"He started it! I was fine before he tripped me!" Calysta squealed.

Nico glared, but his eyes were strangely out of focus. "Does anyone else see those weird dancing spots?"

Pedro raised his hand. "Um, I think Calysta gave Nico a concussion."

"Seriously? No one else can see those?"

"Nico, you DID start it," Miguel deadpanned, glaring at Nico. "You've completely RUINED The Branch's reputation!"

"But—"

"It's not his fault!" Pedro interjected.

"And don't think I'm not counting you," Miguel said, wheeling on Pedro. "I saw you snickering throughout that entire thing."

"But—"

The rival club owners had started to snicker as well. Miguel flushed. "Do you know what this means for The Branch?"

"But, no, Miguel, you don't get it, Calysta—"

"She was fine until Nico started whatever it was he thought he was doing!"

"Miguel, listen to me, Calysta—"

"I DON'T CARE! YOU'RE—"

"It's not our fault!"

"NICO, PEDRO, YOU ARE BANNED FROM THE BRANCH!"

Complete silence followed. Even Nico, who had been blinking furiously to make the spots go away, seemed to register the impact of that statement.

"I MEAN IT! GO!"

"But—"

"**GO**."

Seeing no other option, Pedro pulled Nico to the side and left The Branch.

* * *

><p>That just happened. I kind of misled you. My apologies.<p>

Choreographing and timing that song (fight?) between Nico and Calysta was why this chapter took so bloody long. And so, I'd like to hear your thoughts! Including what I could do better! Also, I'd recommend listening to the song and really concentrating on the fact that the girl sounds like she's yelling. And if you can never listen to this song again without imagining Nico and Calysta fighting, then welcome to my world.

Seriously. Review. I'm also accepting hate mail on behalf of Calysta.


	4. Chapter 4

Nope, I'm not dead-I know you're all thinking it. Here I am and here is the next chapter of _Musical Chairs_! I could provide all the usual excuses and explanations for WHY this chapter took so bloody long, but instead, I'll just thank those users who messaged me A) asking if I was live, B) asking where the next chapter of this story was, and C) in consequence, making me punch my Enterprise into warp speed. Or, somewhat warp speed. And by Enterprise, I really mean just me, so maybe that wasn't the strongest metaphor.  
>Whatever.<p>

Users who I'd like to thank, in no special order except alphabetical: Candlestic, Dinosgorawr3, EmmerzK, and ILOVENICOX1000! Seriously, thanks, guys, I don't think I would have finished the chapter if not for you guys :). I think I legitimately forgot about it.

Onward! (A brief refresher, you guys probably need it: Nico and Pedro just got banned from The Branch thanks to an onstage brawl with Calysta, who somehow managed to appear innocent to Miguel. This has left Nico slightly injured.)

* * *

><p>Pedro turned into the first alley he came to. Not that he knew where that was, exactly—his body had been moving of its own accord, apparently in search of some quiet, remote place to just sit and absorb.<p>

And _rest. _Nico was getting heavier and heavier the farther Pedro dragged him, as if Miguel's words were steadily sinking in with more distance. Pedro had started with one arm under Nico's tiny shoulders, gently supporting the canary in a clumsy, slightly stupefied walk, but Nico's motions had turned considerably less functional the past minute, so Pedro had just picked his friend up to find somewhere for him to lie down. Nico didn't seem to mind at the moment, he was being very quiet; but Pedro wished he had a camera. Or that Ralfy was here. Or that Ralfy was here with a camera.

Pedro stopped in the middle of the alley, where a random tire lay next to a trash can. Thanking the sweet Gods above, he heaved Nico onto the tire. The motion startled the small bird out of his weird semi-conscious reverie.

"What the WHAT—"

"You're heavy."

"Are you calling me fat?"

"Yes."

Nico laughed and swung into a sitting position. "You need to work out more."

"What are you talking about? I'm RIPPED."

"Hey…you know that armadillo that's been following us for, like, 3 blocks?"

"…no."

Nico beckoned Pedro closer and leaned in for a confidential whisper. "Well there's this armadillo that's been following us for, like, 3 blocks."

"Nico, how hard did Calysta hit you with your bottle cap?"

"When did Calysta hit me with my bottle cap?" Nico frantically gripped the hat on his head as if to stop it from suddenly flying away. "It's still here."

"No, earlier, like ten minutes ago."

"This isn't ten minutes ago?"

"…what?"

"I thought it was ten minutes ago. My watch must be wrong. It doesn't adjust for vector flight patterns and that blue box in the corner."

Pedro instinctively looked behind him, where the corner of the alley conspicuously yielded zero blue boxes.

"What are you talking about, Nico?"

"Donuts."

"…no."

"I said YES."

"NO YOU DIDN'T."

"But PedROOOOOOOOOOOO…"

"BUT WHAT? NOTHING YOU'RE SAYING IS MAKING ANY SENSE! YOU'RE LIKE BLU! BUT A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE!"

Nico cocked his head. "Who's Blu?"

All of Pedro stopped for a second. "Blu…? One of our best friends?"

Nico stared blankly as Pedro's concern levels rose from "worried" to "freaking out." The cardinal took a deep breath to prevent his inner thermometer from spiking to the point that was just an angry red face covered with emotion squiggles. "Ok, Nico, I think you have a concussion. I think you should get some sleep." Pedro remembered reading somewhere that people with concussions should sleep.

Nico didn't fight it, but instead flopped onto his side and limply closed his eyes. Pedro started pacing back and forth in front of his incapacitated friend.

Well, so far as Pedro could put it, the main problem was Calysta. She stole their song, changed the lyrics from groovin' to catty, and then beat Nico up on stage. (Nico had started it, but really—what else was he supposed to do)? Unfortunately, this little technicality had occurred on an extremely important night, also inspiring the wrath of Miguel, prompting him to make one of the worst decisions of his life, which was to forever ban him and Nico from their home, their sanctuary, their love. What would they do without The Branch?

Well, that could be answered later. First and foremost: what would they do about CALYSTA? They couldn't just let this PASS. True, Nico had given her a proper (and well-deserved, even if she was a girl), walloping on stage, but Calysta had apparently done worse damage on the tiny sleeping canary. Pedro glanced over, where Nico still lay on his side, breathing evenly and deeply. Some sleep would be good for the little guy.

Pedro continued pacing. He wished he had a deerstalker. Although he guessed he wasn't really solving a mystery so much as just solving a problem. Different.

But how did Calysta even know _Till the World Ends _in the first place? That might be a good thing to figure out. Maybe Pedro _could_ employ deductive reasoning. Huh. He _would _have to find a deerstalker.

Now how best to teach her an immediate lesson…? Detective work might take some time. Revenge had to be his first priority. Nico tried, but he had just ended up with a concussion. He needed to sleep.

Now then…Calysta…banned…clubs…songs…_original _songs…revenge…fighting…during the time of the club feud, too…

Pedro stopped pacing. An idea sparked like a firecracker in his mind, steadily sizzling faster and faster down the thread running through his brain. He was about to jump in the air when his brain lit another firecracker.

_Wait…did I read that people with concussions were SUPPOSED to sleep, or NOT supposed to sleep? _

The firecracker exploded.

Pedro all but screamed and roughly grabbed Nico by the shoulders, shaking him maybe a little bit too hard. "Nico! NICO! Ni-CO!"

The canary started and opened his glassy and bloodshot eyes. "WHAT?"

Pedro exhaled. He hadn't even realized he'd been holding his breath. "No sleeping."

"But PablOOOOOOOOO….."

"…did you just call me Pablo?"

"…flerget."

"Okay, you've gotta go to the bird sanctuary." Pedro easily slipped Nico onto his back, although he had difficulty making the canary hold on. As he struggled to properly position his friend, Pedro saw a second tire hiding behind the first one, and an overturned trash can gleaming in the moonlight.

Holy…

He shook his head and flapped away, thoughts full of taking Nico to the bird sanctuary, dealing with Calysta, maybe learning to actually read, and trying to forget the alley where Raoul had tried to kill them.

* * *

><p>"Miguel!" Rafael waved, although he was starting to suspect the pelican was ignoring him. "Miguel!"<p>

Miguel finally turned and beckoned Rafael over.

"I got all the other club owners to go away. Told them they could come see tomorrow night's performance."

"And when that didn't work, what did you say?"

"That I'd sick my kids on them."

"So now they've seen my club crash and burn AND we've threatened them."

"Noooooo, it didn't crash and burn," Rafael comforted. "Just crashed."

Miguel stared at Rafael with an unnerving eye. Frightened of letting that expression become words, Rafael blurted, "Where'd everyone else go?"

"Bruno and Calysta went home or wherever."

"And Nico and Pedro? Tell me you sent them to the bird sanctuary?"

"I don't care where they went, so long as they left my club."

"Gave them a lecture, huh?"

"One they'll never forget."

Rafael raised an eyebrow. Nico and Pedro were used to lectures, sure, but the way Miguel looked and sounded, this lecture didn't seem like one of the usuals. "What exactly did you say to them, Miguel?"

"They're no longer welcome here."

"…in your heart?"

"The Branch."

"_WHAT?"_

Miguel actually jumped from Rafael's forceful exclamation. "YES, The Branch! They may have ruined the club's reputation AND future!"

"SO YOU BAN THEM? THEY'RE YOUR HEADLINERS!"

"ARE YOU NOT LISTENING TO A WORD I'M SAYING?"

"NO! I'M NOT!" Rafael actually stomped his foot, something he hadn't done since his youth. "You not only just ruined any chance your precious club had of making up for last night, but you might have ruined any friendship you had with those two! _Dios, _Miguel, what were you _thinking? _Banning Nico and Pedro from The Branch?"

"They—"

"I DON'T CARE! Nothing you say at this point will make sense! You're like Blu, but a thousand times worse!" Rafael turned angrily and stomped away, aware that Miguel was sputtering but choosing to ignore him. He knew he had to find Nico and Pedro, and if either of them had _any _sense (a long shot), they would be at the bird sanctuary.

* * *

><p>Pedro had never actually taken Nico to the bird sanctuary, despite all of Nico's past injuries. Sure, he'd gone <em>with <em>him, but Ralfy had technically _taken _him—the toucan's paternal instincts allowed him to lead the way, catch the attention of Linda or whoever else was there, and then wait patiently until he heard results. Sure, Pedro had gone, but…he didn't really do anything. He didn't know the protocol.

It was also nighttime. Employees manned the sanctuary at night, but admittedly, not as much as during the day. Standing outside on the railing with Nico almost slipping off, Pedro peered through the window, hoping to be noticed by some ghost figure wandering by. Any of the other birds—Rafael, the Blue Macaws—would have a shot at that, but he and Nico were smaller and also not as prominent there; Pedro might actually have to take some initiative.

He shifted Nico again and realized the canary wasn't holding on as strongly as before. "Nico? Are you asleep again?"

No answer. Pedro roughly swung the canary back to the front and shook him again. "I SAID NO SLEEPING."

"I'm not…sleeping bag…"

"What now?"

"I'm not a…sleeping bag…"

"What is that?"

"Have you ever noticed how cute turtles are?"

"No."

"That's a shame. Cuz…they're really cute…"

Pedro ignored his friend's ramblings and took his hand like a parent leading a child into the doctor's. Which he was basically doing.

"Okay, Nico, you're going to stay here for a while," he explained soothingly, pushing open the window Linda had had installed specifically for this purpose.

"What? Why?"

"Because…because I said so."

"…._why?" _

"Because…there's a surprise?"

Nico took no notice that Pedro's promise was in the form of a question. "What kinda surprise?"

"The best kind."

Nico's eyes grew large and round. "OOOOOOOOOO."

"Yeah. So…follow me." Pedro led Nico into the dimly lit sanctuary, craning his neck for a human. Why wasn't anybody around?

Well…he didn't have time for this. If Phase 1 of his plan was to be successful, he had to execute it pronto. But he couldn't leave Nico alone, not in this state…

"Blu!" Pedro almost screamed. Actually, he wasn't even sure if it _was _Blu, but there was a definite flash of blue on the porch outside…

Pedro saw that serendipity was his ally tonight as the Macaw turned. Smiling wider than that creepy McDonald's clown, Pedro jumped up and down and waved. Nico followed suit. Although Blu looked a little confused, he left his perch on the porch and opened another bird-friendly window.

"Guys? What are you doing here so late? Are you hurt?"

"Nico might have a concussion. But what are you doing here, boy?"

"Wait…what?"

"Why _you _here so late?"

"I'm playing chess with Linda." Blu gestured to the board outside that Pedro hadn't noticed. "She left to take a phone call from Tulio. Now what's this about a concussion?"

"Nico has one. I'm pretty sure."

Blu turned to the canary, whose head was tilted to the right. "Nic? Are you okay?"

"Never better! You look funny, you know that?"

"Um…what?"

"I like your beard."

"Yeah. He's got a concussion."

Nico turned to Pedro, although his whisper was definitely not quiet enough to be considered confidential. "Who is this guy?"

"What? Nico, I'm…Blu. I'm literally one of the last five Blue Macaws in existence."

"Nah, not ringing a bell."

Blu turned to Pedro, expression miserably trying to hide confusion and concern.

"Yeah, he's been doing that…" Pedro explained. "He didn't know who you were earlier when I mentioned you, and he called me Pablo."

"Neruda!"

"NO!" Pedro frowned. "For the last time, I don't know who that is!"

"Silly Pablo Neruda."

Pedro struggled to refrain from strangling his friend and turned to Blu. "Look, would you take him? I know he's not supposed to sleep, and…I may have ruined that earlier…"

"What do you mean _may_?"

"He fell asleep for a little while."

Blu released a sound of exasperation and started shepherding Nico away, who followed obediently, mumbling unintelligibly under his breath. "I'll take care of it. How did this _happen, _anyway?"

"Um…we…got into a fight about…samba."

"Wait, someone else here hates samba?"

"Yeah, and look what it did to Nico!"

"Well, it's no cause for a physical fight or anything, but…"

"Okay, you win, great, I'm coming back to check on Nico later, bye!"

Blu turned around to retort, but Pedro was already gone.

* * *

><p>"BLU!"<p>

Blu yelped as Rafael swished through the window. "WHAT?"

"Have Nico and Pedro been here?"

"Yeah, I was playing chess with Linda and she left to take a phone call and then Pedro showed up saying something about Nico getting a concussion and—"

"Where'd they go?"

"Well I dunno where Pedro went, but Nico's in—"

"Wait, Pedro isn't here?"

"No. He left and said he'd be back later."

"Pedro left his best friend, who has a probable concussion, here without proper observance?"

"Well gee, thanks," Blu mumbled. "He's in the observance room, by the way, playing with this awesome bell I found."

"Observance room?"

"So we can make sure he doesn't sleep. I mean, there's tons of stuff in there to keep him awake, but we've also got a video feed." Blu used his foot to click a remote on the floor and a small TV monitor behind him popped on. Although it was black and white and a little fuzzy, Rafael could clearly see Nico in a small room (how long had _that _been there?) poking a small silver bell and delighting himself every time it elicited a noise.

"I'm worrying about him more than normal."

"What? That bell is totally awesome…and there's a xylophone in there he's pretty fond of too…but, he's doing some other weird stuff."

"Like what?"

"He kept calling Pedro 'Pablo' and he's got no idea who I am."

"WHAT?"

Blu recoiled. "Yeah, I mean, it's weird, he's forgetting stuff."

"CALYSTA HIT HIM THAT HARD?"

"What? Calysta? That bird we saw at the club the other night?"

"YES! She and Nico got in a fight onstage!"

"…about samba? THAT'S who Nico was fighting?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Pedro said Nico got into a fight with some other bird about samba."

"Nico had to perform a song with Calysta and it ended in a brawl onstage. Which resulted in Miguel banning them both from the club."

"…banning Nico and Calysta?"

"Banning Nico and Pedro."

"WHAT?" Blu took a subconscious second to ponder about all the loud WHAT'S that were being yelled that night. It gave way to wondering why Pedro had lied to him. "Well…Pedro didn't tell me that!"

Rafael crossed his wings. "Why is that boy lying? Where'd you say he went?"

"I didn't. Because _he _didn't say."

"Well, he'll be back to check on Nico in a little bit. We may as well wait for him."

They waited until morning. The cardinal did not return.

* * *

><p>Well, Nico is pretty much incapacitated, (don't worry, he's not out of the story), and Pedro is alone to solve a problem. For those of you who asked for a reversal of <em>Ambitions, <em>you got it!

Anyone who knows who Pablo Neruda is gets a shout-out before the next chapter, and anyone who understands the 'blue box' time travel reference gets DOUBLE shout-outs. (Sorry I can't give you anything cooler, I honestly just want to see if anyone knows.)

Sorry for the wait, guys, hopefully the next chapter won't take so long! Drop a review if you've got the time. :)


End file.
